Türkiye has urged its NATO allies to extend their support in its fight against terrorist organisations, including the PKK and Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) until they are completely eliminated, the country's National Security Council said. 

In a statement released on Thursday after the three-hour session, which convened in the capital Ankara under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the council said Türkiye "has fully and sincerely" fulfilled its obligations in the alliance and that it expects the same from other members.

Underscoring Ankara's determination to keep fighting FETO until it was completely eliminated, the statement said Türkiye is ready to fight all manners of danger to its "national unity and survival," including the PKK terrorist organisation and its offshoots, as well as FETO, both at home and abroad.

In its over 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

The statement referred to a NATO summit in the Spanish capital of Madrid last month to discuss the formal application of Sweden and Finland to join the transatlantic alliance, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

Türkiye had voiced objections to the membership bids, criticising the countries for tolerating and even supporting terror groups.

A trilateral agreement signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG, the PKK's Syrian offshoot, nor to the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye, and said Ankara extends full support to Finland and Sweden against threats to their national security.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 252 people dead and 2,734 injured.

FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Greece

Additionally, the council touched on the issues between Türkiye and Greece.

"Greece's continued territorial waters, airspace violations and other provocative actions are unacceptable," it stressed.

"The Greek administration has also been called upon to once again put an end to activities that endanger lives of irregular migrants, and violate human rights and humanitarian law," the statement noted.

Ankara and international human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable people, including women and children.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The council also expressed "strong support" for the vision of a Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) "for a two-state solution on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status."

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

Pointing to Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine, Ankara called for "a comprehensive cease-fire to be declared," before the war "leads to more casualties and destruction."

Türkiye reiterated its efforts "to resolve the issue that is turning into a global food crisis with the establishment of a lasting will."

"The expanding political and social effects of the global economic crisis, which was deepened by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent conflicts throughout the world, were evaluated in all dimensions, and the measures to be taken to strengthen our country in all areas against possible threats that may arise in the future were reviewed," the council added.

Source: AA

Türkiye has condemned Greece's decision of closing four more primary schools belonging to the Turkish Muslim minority in Western Thrace for the ongoing school year.

“With this latest decision, more than half of the Minority primary schools have been closed. Thus, Greece's policy of closing primary schools belonging to the Turkish Muslim Minority in Western Thrace through 'temporary suspension' has proven to be systematic,” Tanju Bilgic, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement on Friday.

Bilgic reiterated the Turkish minority's right to establish, manage and inspect their own schools in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923 – which eventually paved the way for an independent Turkish republic.

He said the recent moves show the “discriminatory and oppressive policies” implemented against the Turkish minority in the field of education.

“While Greece closes primary schools with the pretext of insufficient number of students, it ignores, on the other hand, the demands for opening new Minority secondary/high schools despite the obvious need, and violates the education rights of Minority children,” Bilgic noted.

He urged Greece to put an end to its discriminatory policies toward Turkish minority schools year after year.

“Republic of Türkiye will continue to support the Minority's struggle for its rights and justice, both in bilateral contacts and international platforms,” he added.

Greece's Western Thrace region is home to some 150,000 Muslim Turks, whose rights to elect their own religious leaders, found Turkish associations, and have their own schools have been denied by Athens, in violation of European court orders./aa

Ukraine has around $10 billion worth of grain available for sale in the wake of a deal signed with Russia to unblock supplies and will also have a chance to sell the current harvest, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"Approximately 20 million tons of last year's grain harvest will be exported. There will also be a chance to sell this year's harvest ... at the moment we have about $10 billion worth of grains available," said Zelenskyy.

Türkiye, UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday in Istanbul to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian incursion can be eased.

"This is another demonstration that Ukraine can withstand the war," he said in a late Friday address.

"In this context, I am especially grateful to the UN secretary general and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their efforts," Zelenskyy added.

The Istanbul deal, brokered by Türkiye, is a chance to prevent a global food catastrophe that could cause chaos in many countries, Zelenskyy said.

"There may be some provocations on the part of Russia, attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts," said Zelenskyy.

Easing global food crisis

Ankara and the UN have been working on a plan that would enable Ukraine to export millions of grain stockpiles that have been stuck in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports due to the conflict — a move that could ease a global food crisis that has sent wheat and other grain prices soaring.

Last week, the sides met in Istanbul, reaching a tentative agreement on the plan. The plan foresees joint controls of ships as they leave and arrive at Black Sea ports and a mechanism to ensure the safety of the transfer routes, Turkish officials said.

Türkiye's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun in a statement said Ankara "continue[s] to work hard to solve the current regional and global crises such as food security, migration, energy shortages, and regional conflicts among others."

A coordination centre for the shipping of exports would be established in Istanbul and would include UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials./TRT

The UN's highest court has ruled that a landmark case accusing military-ruled Myanmar of genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims can go ahead.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday threw out all of Myanmar's objections to a case filed by the west African nation of The Gambia in 2019.

The decision paves the way for full hearings at the court on allegations over a bloody 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya by Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

"The court finds that it has jurisdiction... to entertain the application filed by the Republic of the Gambia, and that the application is admissible," ICJ president Joan Donoghue said.

Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told reporters outside the court he was "very pleased that the court has delivered justice".

Several dozen Rohingya activists demonstrated outside the court while the judgment was read out.

'Great moment for justice'

"This decision is a great moment for justice for Rohingya, and for all people of Burma," said Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, referring to the country by its former name.

"We are pleased that this landmark genocide trial can now finally begin in earnest."

Myanmar's representative, attorney general Thida Oo, said her country was now "looking forward to finding the best way to protect our people and our country."

The Gambia filed the case in November 2019 alleging that Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

Myanmar had argued on several grounds that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter, and should dismiss the case while it is still in its preliminary stages.

But judges unanimously rejected Myanmar's argument that Gambia was acting as a "proxy" of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in the case.

Only states, and not organisations, are allowed to file cases at the ICJ, which has ruled on disputes between countries since just after World War II.

'Brutality and cruelty'

They also unanimously dismissed Myanmar's assertions that Gambia could not file the case because it was not a direct party to the alleged genocide, and that Myanmar had opted out of a relevant part of the genocide convention.

Finally they threw out by 15-1 Myanmar's claim that there was no formal dispute at the time Gambia filed the case, and that the court therefore had no jurisdiction.

Hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya fled the southeast Asian country during the operation five years ago, bringing with them harrowing reports of murder, rape and arson.

Around 850,000 Rohingya are languishing in camps in neighbouring Bangladesh while another 600,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar's southwestern Rakhine state.

Source: AFP

Two children have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the US, health officials said.

One is a toddler in California and the other is an infant who is not a US resident but was tested while in Washington, DC, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.

The children were described as being in good health and receiving treatment. How they caught the disease is being investigated, but officials think it was through household transmission.

Other details weren't immediately disclosed.

Monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, but this year more than 15,000 cases have been reported in countries that historically don’t see the disease.

In addition to the two pediatric cases, health officials said they were aware of at least eight women among the more than 2,500 US cases reported so far.

“I don’t think its surprising that we are occasionally going to see cases” outside that social network, the CDC's Jennifer McQuiston told reporters on Friday.

Officials have said the virus can spread through close personal contact, and via towels and bedding. That means it can happen in homes, likely through prolonged or intensive contact, said Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“People don't crawl on each other's beds unless they are living in the same house or family,” he said.

Monkeypox in Europe, Africa

In Europe, there have been at least six monkeypox cases among kids 17 years old and younger.

This week, doctors in the Netherlands published a report of a boy who was seen at an Amsterdam hospital with about 20 red-brown bumps scattered across his body. It was monkeypox, and doctors said they could not determine how he got it.

In Africa, monkeypox infections in children have been more common, and doctors have noted higher proportions of severe cases and deaths in young children.

One reason may be that many older adults were vaccinated against smallpox as kids, likely giving them some protection against the related monkeypox virus, Lawler said. 

Smallpox vaccinations were discontinued when the disease was eradicated about 40 years ago./AP